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Microplastics (MPs) have been shown to adsorb heavy metals and serve as vehicles for their environmental transport. To date, insufficient studies have focused on enterohepatic injury in mice co-exposed to both MPs and cadmium (Cd). Here, we report that Cd adsorption increased the surface roughness and decreased the monodispersity of PS-MPs. Furthermore, exposure to both PS-MPs and Cd resulted in a more severe toxic effect compared to single exposure, with decreased body weight gain, shortened colon length, and increased colonic and hepatic inflammatory response observed. This can be attributed to an elevated accumulation of Cd resulting from increased gut permeability, coupled with the superimposed effects of oxidative stress. In addition, using 16 S sequencing and fecal microbiota transplantation, it was demonstrated that gut microbiota dysbiosis plays an essential role in the synergistic toxicity induced by PS-MPs and Cd in mice. This study showed that combined exposure to MPs and Cd induced more severe intestinal and liver damage in mice compared to individual exposure, and provided a new perspective for a more systematic risk assessment process related to MPs exposure. [Display omitted] • Cd adsorption changes the physical characteristics of PS-MPs. • PS-MPs and Cd synergistically disrupted gut barrier and promoted Cd accumulation. • Co-exposure to PS-MPs and Cd induced a more severe enterohepatic injury. • FMT proved that gut microbiota dysbiosis plays key role in synergistic toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains a challenge for commercial hemoperfusion adsorbents to efficiently remove multiple protein-bound toxins in the clinical treatment of liver and kidney failure. Here, polystyrene divinylbenzene microspheres (PS-DVB) were surface-modified by poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (poly-CBMA) through controlled polymerization, named PCBMA. PS-DVB served as a supporting backbone and provided enormous specific surface, while a layer of the poly-CBMA aimed at efficiently removing various toxins and attaining better biocompatibility. After modification, the mesoporous analysis revealed a high specific surface area of 527 m2/g. More notably, compared with PS-DVB, PCBMA showed an 830%, 130%, and 26% increase in the adsorption capacity of p-cresol sulfate (PCS), indoleacetic acid (IAA), and bilirubin (BR), respectively, in the presence of 40 g/L bovine serum albumin. Further molecular dynamics simulations and DFT calculations showed that poly-CBMA exhibited stronger intermolecular forces for all three toxins. The hydrogen bonds formed between the negatively charged carboxylate ions from PCBMA contributed to its excellent adsorption performance. This study not only provides a new idea to study the adsorption mechanism of toxins by zwitterionic polymers but also demonstrates the promising application of microspheres modified by zwitterionic polymers in clinical hemoperfusion therapy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hepatitis c virus (HCV) infection is one of major causes for chronic liver diseases worldwide and could lead to death. Development of effective HCV vaccines is a powerful auxiliary method of existing treatments. Adjuvants are necessary for modern vaccines to promote immune responses. Among the various nanomaterials that have been developed, multihydroxylated fullerene (C 60 (OH) 22) has been proved as an efficient adjuvant for human immunodeficiency virus DNA vaccine. Here, we utilized three types of HCV recombinant proteins as antigens to investigate the activity of C 60 (OH) 22 as a protein vaccine adjuvant. The proteins were carried by C 60 (OH) 22 in a way of surface adsorption and self-assemble encapsulation. C 60 (OH) 22 at a relatively low dose was sufficient to promote both humoral and cellular immune responses to HCV protein antigens and reduce the usage of antigen. These results demonstrated the positive adjuvant properties of C 60 (OH) 22 when applied to protein vaccines. Highlights • Multihydroxylated fullerene (C 60 (OH) 22) exhibited a high activity as a protein vaccine adjuvant. • HCV recombinant proteins were carried by C 60 (OH) 22 in a way of surface adsorption and self-assemble encapsulation. • C 60 (OH) 22 promoted both humoral and cellular immune responses to HCV protein antigens and reduce the usage of antigen in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is harmful to humans by producing toxins that cause thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Real-time recombinase-aided amplification (rRAA) can generate real-time fluorescence signals to achieve sensitive detection of pathogens within 20 min but cannot distinguish dead bacteria from viable bacteria, leading to false-positive results. Thiazole orange monoazide (TOMA) is an activity-labile nucleic acid-modifying compound, permeating into bacterial cells and, in dead cells, covalently linking to genomic DNA to suppress DNA amplification. In viable cells, however, TOMA is cleaved by active esterase and so inhibition of DNA amplification would not occur. A rRAA assay integrated with TOMA was successfully developed potentially enabling rapid and sensitive identification of viable E. coli O157:H7 in milk. The limit of detection was less than 10 cfu mL−1 in both pure culture and skimmed milk. Moreover, this assay could resist interference from non-target bacteria and high concentrations of dead bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We aimed to determine whether IP-10 and RANTES plasma levels can be used in diagnosis and monitoring of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Methods Plasma levels of cytokines/chemokines were measured using a Bio-Plex ® multiplex cytokine assay system in a cohort containing 457 clinically suspected PTB patients including a training set (n = 41)and two independent test sets A (n = 242) and B (n = 174). Results Plasma levels of IP-10 and RANTES were significantly higher in PTB patients than healthy controls' in both training and independent test sets ( P  < 0.05). Compared with other combinations, the combination of IP-10 and RANTES had the best performance with an AUC of 1.0 in training set. The performance characteristic of this model was successfully validated in independent test set A although this combination only resulted in a slightly improvement of AUC value in independent test set B. Plasma IP-10 and RANTES levels were weakly and positively correlated with blood glucose concentrations. Moreover, IP-10 levels were positively correlated with CRP and ESR in PTB patients. Furthermore, in response to therapy, both IP-10 and RANTES levels significantly decreased over the period of 6 months ( P  < 0.001). Conclusions Taken together, combination of IP-10 and RANTES could be potentially used as diagnostic and monitoring biomarker in PTB management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-efficient enrichment of glycopeptides prior to mass spectrometry is essential for glycoproteomics analysis. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) approach is a prominent strategy for glycopeptides identification. In this work, glucose functionalized magnetic graphene hydrophilic nanocomposite (MagG/Au/Glu) was synthesized as a novel HILIC material via a facile surface modification strategy. Different from previous click synthesis of saccharides-functionalized materials, glucose was easily thiolated via Traut's reagent and then immobilized on the materials via efficient Au-S coupling, greatly simplifying the synthesis process. Combining the rapid magnetic response, huge surface area from graphene and excellent hydrophilicity from glucose, MagG/Au/Glu nanocomposites afforded convenience of the operation and affinity for glycopeptides. Thus, the nanocomposites exhibited superior performance of high sensitivity, selectivity and reusability in glycopeptide enrichment from tryptic digests of standard glycoprotein HRP. Encouragingly, with the usage of MagG/Au/Glu nanocomposites, a total of 305 glycopeptides assigned to 108 glycoproteins were identified from complex real sample human serum, indicating a great potential for the application of glycoproteomics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein glycosylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications. Also, efficient enrichment and separation of glycopeptides from complex samples are crucial for the thorough analysis of glycosylation. Developing novel hydrophilic materials with facile and easily popularized synthesis is an urgent need in large-scale glycoproteomics research. Herein, for the first time, a one-step functionalization strategy based on metal-organic coordination was proposed and FeO nanoparticles were directly functionalized with zwitterionic hydrophilic l-cysteine (L-Cys), greatly simplifying the synthetic procedure. The easily synthesized FeO/L-Cys possessed excellent hydrophilicity and brief composition, contributing to affinity for glycopeptides and reduction in nonspecific interaction. Thus, FeO/L-Cys nanoparticles showed outstanding sensitivity (25 amol/μL), high selectivity (mixture of bovine serum albumin and horseradish peroxidase tryptic digests at a mass ratio of 100:1), good reusability (five repeated times), and stability (room temperature storage of 1 month). Encouragingly, in the glycosylation analysis of human serum, a total of 376 glycopeptides with 393 N-glycosylation sites corresponding to 118 glycoproteins were identified after enrichment with FeO/L-Cys, which was superior to ever reported L-Cys modified magnetic materials. Furthermore, applying the one-step functionalization strategy, cysteamine and glutathione respectively direct-functionalized FeO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and also achieved efficient glycopeptide enrichment in human serum. The results indicated that we have presented an efficient and easily popularized strategy in glycoproteomics as well as in the synthesis of novel materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An HPLC for detection of purines in prepackaged food was developed. • Physical and chemical methods are simultaneously employed to extract purine. • Purine contents of various prepackaged food were detected. • Data will be helpful to guide the diet and develop hypopurine prepackaged food. A high performance liquid chromatography was established to determine purine content of prepackaged food. Chromatographic separation was performed on Agilent5 TC-C18 column. Ammonium formate (10 mmol/L, pH = 3.385) and methanol (99:1) were used as mobile phase. Purine concentration and peak area showed good linear relationships in the range from 1 to 40 mg/L (guanine, hypoxanthine, adenine) and xanthine exhibited a good linear relationship ranged from 0.1 to 4.0 mg/L. Recoveries of four purines ranged from 93.03% to 107.42%. Purine content in prepackaged food was following: animal derived prepackaged food: 16.13–90.18 mg/100 g; beans and bean products: 66.36–157.11 mg/100 g; fruits and fruit products: 5.64–21.79 mg/100 g; instant rice and flour products: 5.68–30.83 mg/100 g; fungi, algae, fungi and algae products: 32.57–70.59 mg/100 g. This proposed method had good precision and accuracy with a wide linear range for detection of purine. Animal derived prepackaged food was purine-rich food, purine content of plant derived prepackaged food varied greatly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]